VIDEO: The future of car configurators, brought to you on Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface is, at its most basic, a table-sized touchscreen computer. You can play with them at rather select locations, but we haven't yet begun to see what the thing can do because there aren't enough people investing in applications for it. But for a glimpse of a potential automotive use, Neue Digitale / Razorfish (ND/R) created a configurator that turns accessorizing into building a car in your bare hands.

One of the coolest things about ND/R's take on customizing is that Surface allows for a huge car because the screen is, literally, a table. The haptic controls let you move the car – in this case, an Audi – with a finger or two in any direction, and zooming and jumping in and out of the vehicle take just a few finger touches. The neatest thing of all is the actual physical widget that, when placed on the screen, pulls up a topical menu on the screen that can be flipped through by rotating the widget. And get this: two people can use it at the same time.

It's not quite as revelatory as the configurator that Aston introduced last year for the DBS, only because it's not yet real. But it probably will be soon enough. Follow the jump to have a look at the video.

[Source: Emerging Experiences via German Car Blog]

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Audi Car Configurator on Surface @ IAA 2009 from Neue Digitale / Razorfish on Vimeo.